Removing oil pan

[vegas paul]

To remove the oil pan on my 51 Champion, the shop manual says that the tie rods and the bell crank (steering linkage under front of oil pan) have to be removed. This seems like a huge task - any other ways to do this that are easier? The various hardware that needs to be removed is pretty inaccessible (the oil pan is in the way!). Any suggestions appreciated.

Las Vegas, NV
'51 Champion Business Coupe G899965 10G-Q4-1434
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s144/vegas_paul/1462673_2_350.jpg?t=1180041622 http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s144/vegas_paul/graciestude.jpg?t=1180041703

[JDP]

Just did that on my 52, not hard at all to do.

JDP/Maryland
66 Sports sedan
64 Daytona HT/R2 clone
64 Daytona R2
63 GT R2
63 Lark 2 door
62 Gt Hawk
62 Lark 2 door
60 Lark HT-60Hawk
59 3E truck
58 Starlight
52 & 53 Starliner
51 Commander